Despite two Manitoba byelections that held the status quo for their respective parties in Parliament, a political science professor says the increased support for the People’s Party of Canada is something the national Conservative party should heed.
“The PPC is still a force to be reckoned with,” said Brandon University political science professor Kelly Saunders in an interview with 680 CJOB’s The Start.
With over 99 per cent of polls of the Monday byelection reporting, PPC Leader and Portage-Lisgar candidate Maxime Bernier captured 5,349 votes in the southern Manitoba riding, representing just over 17 per cent of the vote.
Conservative candidate Branden Leslie bested Bernier with over 20,000 votes, accounting for nearly 65 per cent of marked ballots.
Saunders said the PPC will be a thorn in the Tories’ side for some time.
“The Conservatives still have to deal with the fact that the PPC are around, and there are pockets of support for the party, not only in Manitoba, but across the country,” she said.
Bernier’s PPC party gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic when restrictions and vaccine mandates controlled the movement of Canadians. The party, which Bernier started in 2018 after leaving the Conservatives when he lost his bid for party leader, polled better than expected during the 2021 federal election when it garnered 21 per cent of the vote in Portage-Lisgar.
After Bernier announced his candidacy in the rural Manitoba riding’s byelection, he committed to moving to the area if he won.
Yet, the professor said that if Bernier can’t secure a seat as leader of his own party, the support for the PPC is limited at best.
Saunders also speculated Leslie’s win in Portage-Lisgar is because of the community-oriented nature of the riding.
Leslie is previous Portage-Lisgar MP Candice Bergen’s former campaign manager.
“We want to elect representatives that know us, that know our community, that know our issues or concerns or values or priorities,” said Saunders, noting that while “riding shopping” isn’t a new concept, it rarely works.
Name recognition also worked for Winnipeg South Centre Liberal candidate Ben Carr, whose father Jim Carr represented the riding from 2015 until his death in 2022. Carr Jr. secured 55 per cent of the vote to become the riding’s MP-elect.
The PPC’s candidate in Winnipeg South Centre, which boasted 48 names on the ballot, finished with just 323 votes.